Nonprofit · EIN 45-5445890
FARM COMMONS
Tax-exempt · DULUTH, MN 55803
Financials
| Year ended | Form | Revenue | Expenses | Net income | Total assets | Liabilities | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2025 | 990 | $812,313 | $482,845 | $329,468 | $689,330 | $4,406 | $684,924 |
| December 31, 2024 | 990 | $614,371 | $539,905 | $74,466 | $377,094 | $21,638 | $355,456 |
| December 31, 2023 | 990 | $573,738 | $577,380 | -$3,642 | $283,461 | $2,471 | $280,990 |
Financial details: 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025
Revenue
- Contributions, gifts and grants
- $713,359
- of which government grants
- $360,459
- Program service revenue
- $95,223
- Investment income
- $3,731
- Other revenue
- $0
Expenses
- Grants and similar amounts paid
- $0
- Compensation of officers, directors and key employees
- $0
- Other salaries and wages
- $262,824
- Salaries, compensation and benefits (total)
- $301,251
- Professional fundraising fees
- $0
- Accounting fees
- $24,159
- Occupancy
- $3,686
- Travel
- $14,251
- Depreciation
- $19,733
- Program services (functional)
- $357,250
- Management and general (functional)
- $112,496
- Fundraising (functional)
- $13,099
Balance sheet and other
- Total assets, start of year
- $377,094
- Total assets, end of year
- $689,330
- Total liabilities, end of year
- $4,406
- Net assets, end of year
- $684,924
- Land, buildings and equipment
- $25,617
- Net assets without donor restrictions
- $423,674
- Net assets with donor restrictions
- $261,250
- Gross receipts
- $812,313
- Employees
- 6
- Volunteers
- 5
- Year formed
- 2012
- State of legal domicile
- WI
From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.
Officers, directors and key employees
As listed on the 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025, highest compensation first.
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Armstrong | Ex officio and Non-Voting Director Key employee, Highest-paid employee | 40 | $72,384 |
| Aaron Sandvig | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Andrew Larson | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Tom Buller | President Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Joy Kirkpatrick | Secretary Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Kate Graham | Treasurer Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Nathan Aaberg | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Kate Giessel | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
990 for the year ended December 31, 2024: 6 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Armstrong | Ex officio and Non-Voting Director Key employee, Highest-paid employee | 40 | $70,625 |
| Aaron Sandvig | Treasurer Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Andrew Larson | President Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Tom Buller | Secretary Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Joy Kirkpatrick | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Kate Graham | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
990 for the year ended December 31, 2023: 7 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation | Other / benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Armstrong | Ex officio and Non-Voting Director Key employee, Highest-paid employee | 40 | $70,412 | $4,494 |
| Aaron Sandvig | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Andrew Larson | Director Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Tom Buller | Secretary Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Joy Kirkpatrick | Treasurer Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Kate Graham | President Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Beth Dooley | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
Address and contacts
- Address (IRS master file)
- 302 W AUSTIN ST, DULUTH, MN 55803-1763
- In care of
- % RACHEL ARMSTRONG
- Principal officer (990 for 2025)
- Rachel Armstrong, 302 W Austin St, Duluth, MN 55803
- Signed the 990
- Rachel Armstrong, Executive Director
- Phone
- (218) 302-4030
- Website
- www.farmcommons.org
Mission
Farm Commons' mission is to provide the legal resources that sustainable farmers need to become the stable, resilient foundation of a community-based food system. Farm Commons empowers agricultural communities (including farmers, ranchers, and agriculture support persons) to identify and resolve legal vulnerabilities within an ecosystem of support. An ecosystem of support includes accountants, attorneys, and insurance agents who assist agricultural business owners in resolving risk. To carry out our mission, we create educational resources including online workshops. We also develop the leadership of agricultural community members (farmers and their supporters) to support legal resiliency in their region.
Program accomplishments
- Direct Legal Education: We reached 15,000 agricultural community members with quality educational resources on farm law issues. We debuted new capacity to address emerging threats and legal uncertainty across the farm law landscape. Across 20 unique webinars, we reached 4100 community members with rapid response information. These webinars addressed terminated and frozen USDA contracts, using the NAD appeals process, Immigration and Customs Enforcement issues, the H-2A visa program changes, and new USDA general terms and conditions. These webinars alone reached 4200 farmers and their supporters. With partners nationwide, we developed 9 new guides and template documents to accompany our webinar outreach. These guides were downloaded over 1000 times, the majority for further distribution in local communities. We didn't just focus on emerging threats- we continued our work on chronic farm law matters with 16 new guides addressing purchasing land as a group of unrelated persons, developing botanical products, managing employee pay, providing employee benefits, and avoiding discrimination on the basis of ability. We continued partnerships with organizations and Extension offices by providing 29 webinars for these audiences on the most commonly encountered farm law issues. We deepened our collaborative relationships by with partners nationwide, and participated in weekly and monthly coordination sessions extending beyond the 2025 calendar year. 2025 was a year of tremendous instability for the agricultural community. Farm Commons rose to the occasion in providing dynamic, fast, responsive education that explained the knowns and unknowns in readily accessible language. This experience has prepared the organization to step into a new role as a rapid response provider of legal information, which the community greatly needs.Expenses $311,222 · revenue $370,742
- Non-Farmer Education: We trained 15 new farm support professionals in the basics of farm law through our Guiding Resilience program. This 5-week program orients supporters to the basic issues, empowering them to help farmers without going beyond the boundaries of professional responsibility. We deepened our investment in the leadership of 12 Legal Ecosystem Fellows. Fellows are trained across a 6 week program to deliver farm law education programming in their own communities and we provided continuing support and review of presentations. Third, we developed 3 new guides specifically to help farm supporters steer farmers through the processes of developing contracts like leases and governance documents. Lastly, we began a project to better empower educators that reach English Langauge Learners through low/no literacy required presentations.Expenses $42,751 · revenue $97,586
- Research and Legal Services: We provided legal services to 3 clients in 2025 in matters that helped grow our expertise and develop useful educational materials for the entire agricultural community.Expenses $3,277 · revenue $6,745
What it must file and when
IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in December, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.
| Tax year | Year ended | Due | IRS public records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | December 31, 2025 | May 15, 2026 | 990 on file |
| 2024 | December 31, 2024 | May 15, 2025 | 990 on file |
| 2023 | December 31, 2023 | May 15, 2024 | 990 on file |
IRS record
- EIN
- 45-5445890
- Tax-exempt status
- 501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization
- Foundation status
- Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
- Donations deductible (Pub 78)
- Public charity, 50% deduction limit
- Exempt since
- 2013
- Accounting year ends
- December
- Files
- Form 990 or 990-EZ
- Category (NTEE)
- Education (B99)
- Assets (IRS master file)
- $689,330
- Income (IRS master file)
- $812,313
Filing history
| Form | Year ended | Revenue | Expenses | Assets | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990 | December 2025 | $812,313 | $482,845 | $689,330 | XML |
| 990 | December 2024 | $614,371 | $539,905 | $377,094 | XML |
| 990 | December 2023 | $573,738 | $577,380 | $283,461 | XML |
| 990 | December 2022 | $504,775 | $470,979 | $287,917 | IRS |
| 990 | December 2021 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2020 | – | – | – | IRS |
990-N: the IRS bulk file holds only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years come from archived copies of that file since 2020 and can have gaps (the IRS e-Postcard search lists every one). 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS (search EIN 45-5445890).
Questions about FARM COMMONS
- What is the EIN of FARM COMMONS?
- The employer identification number (EIN) of FARM COMMONS is 45-5445890.
- Is FARM COMMONS tax-exempt?
- Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 2013.
- Are donations to FARM COMMONS tax-deductible?
- Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).
- Which annual return does FARM COMMONS file?
- Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.
- When is the next return of FARM COMMONS due?
- The return for tax year 2026 (the year ending December 31, 2026) is due May 17, 2027. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.
- When did FARM COMMONS last file with the IRS?
- The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended December 2025.
- Who is the principal officer of FARM COMMONS?
- The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 names Rachel Armstrong.
- Who are the officers and directors of FARM COMMONS?
- The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 lists 8 people; 1 received compensation from the organization, the highest $72,384 (Rachel Armstrong, Ex officio and Non-Voting Director).
- How much revenue does FARM COMMONS have?
- On its 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 it reported revenue of $812,313, expenses of $482,845 and total assets of $689,330 at year end.
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